Blower



Dec. 7 1926. 1,609,584

' l. H. SPENCER BLOWER Filed Jan. 10 1925 1 A I" 1 l I 3 /W' ZAQ IPatented Dec. 7, 1926.

' uuirun STATES P A'TQENT or Free.

IRA SH. SPENCER, 0F LMZIEST)HIHREFQRD, ;CO-I\INEGTICUT ASSIGNDR TOTHEESPENTGER .TURZBINE'HCOMPANHZZOF vMESH;:IH.IeREE'IEY0RD, CONNECTICUT,A :CORPOZRATION- OF:CON

INECTIGUSE.

-.BLOWER.

Application filed January 10, (1925. Seria1'No. 1,611.

My invention relates more especially "to that class of'blowers that areusedfor supplying air to pneumatic musical instruments, andan object ofthe'inven'tion, among others, is the production o't'c' means whereby"the sounds incidenttotheoperation of themm tor .for drivingthe'b'loweris transmitted to a minimum degree along the conduit for supplying airfrom the blower 'to the musicalinstrument; and a "further object of 'theinventionis to provide means whereby "the amount of air admitted'to'theblower-will be automatically controlledto azdegree depending uponthe amount supplied to the musical instrument.

'One 'form of device embodyingmy invention and in the construction and"use of which the objectsherein set out, aswell as others, maybeattained, is illustratedin the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1is a View in central .vertica-l'sed tion on a plane-passinglengthwisethrough the shaft of my improved blower;

Figure "2 is a view in sectionon .a-plane denoted by the dotted line 2-2'of'Figurel, looking toward the left, the base piecesbeing omitted.

FigureS is :an end view, looking toward theright, .of'the "structure asseen. in Figure '1, but minus the basepieces.

Figure 4c is a top view of my improved blower.

In the accompanying drawings the numeral 6 indicates the case of -myimproved I'blower that may be of any suitablematerial, constructedin-any "desired manner and .:ar "rangedto rest upon a saddle composed of:base'pieces "7. Aanotor-S is mounted'on a "support-9 located within-anopen chamber 'TO'inthe endof'the case, said chamber being separated fromaninlet chamber 11 by means of a wall 12, and from a fan chamber "19*bya wall 33 havingan inletopening or "eye 13 for-air that is supplied tothe blower. ikshaft lo-is operatively connected with "themotor and-fans1617=1'8 aresecured *tor'the shaft. 'The "fans 16 -=rotate i-n thechamber 19 from-which a maximum portion dfthezairgpassing in a't theinlet opening 13 isforc'e'd' by centrifugal action of the fan 16 throughan outletopening 20 to a pipe 21 through" which the -air is conducted tothe pointw'here it isitobe .used, asto'the reseroperating --diiierentsparts 1 of an 1 organ and the device herein shown -is, therefore,equipped' with means for' =providing airat a low pressure by'EICt-IOILOf low pressure fans 16 in the low pressure chamber '19,as-well as to provide air at *a higher pressure b-y th-e action of thehigh; pressure -'f-ans 'in' the high pressure chamber 22.

There are spreferablyetwo 'o tthe fans 18 rotating in chambers 2'5-"26,and while the fans 1'6 a-nd 17 supply-airunder pressure to the-o'rganthe fans 18 are -=suction fans for OPQI'fltlIlg-SllCtlOIlmechanism appurtenant to the organ, these fans receiving a1r+f=rom aninlet-pipe Q'Y throughwhich the air is drawn from the organ (and whichis -exhausted "through perforations '28 in -the case 6.

"The arrangement thus far described is very confipactand enables thernclosuregwith- *ina single caseo'f' a i minimum size of -fansfor-creating different pressures of air and also for creating suctionwit-lirespeet toan instrument, as 1 an 4 organ in connection wvith whichthe blower is used, thearr-angement- 0f the outlets "21 and 24 and theinlet 27 being --such as to enable the compact arrangement "hereinillustrated.

An important feature of my invention-resides in the a means forcontrolling the flo-w of air-*to the fans 16 and 17, this controlcomprising valves that are automatically closed to a degreedepending-upon the amount o'f airbeing consumed. More or less nolse ismade by 1 the motor and when the valves are open this noise I istransmitted to a greater or "lesser extent through the I pipes forconveying-the air to the organ or similar instrument being--supplied* bythe blower.

This noise is objectionable, but whenthe or- :gan is iplayi'ng the noiseis mu'flied. However when the-or an isnot 31a in there' is nothing toniuflie the noise and T it is, i therefore; important that means 'shallbe provided for preventing transmission of the noise at this time.

I, therefore, provide valves 29 that are located to cover ports 30 inthe wall 12. These valves each have a hinge 81 located on that side ofthe valve opposed to the direction of flow of the air currents withinthe chamber 11, this flow being a swirling or circular motion given tothe air by a rotation of the fans and which, flowing across the valvesfrom the hinged edge thereof, has a tendency to close the valves. When agreater quantity of air is being consumed the pressure in the conduit isreduced whereby the valves open to admit more air and thereby restorethe pressure in the blower, and at the same time the musical instrumentbeing in operation the noise transmitted through the valve openings ismuiiled as hereinbefore referred to. lVhen the amount of air consumed bythe instrument is lessened, thereby reducing said pressure, the valvesgradually close owing to the reduced pressure and also to the swirlingmotion that is set up by the fans, this swirling and circular motionbeing in a direction as above described to close the valves. Vfhen noair is being consumed the pressure is reduced to a minimum and theswirling motion thus becomes great enough to close the valves and thusprevent noise to an objectionable extent from being transmitted to thevicinity of the musical instrument. At this time when the flow of air tothe organ is stopped and when the fans are running there will be nothingbut a swirling motion of the air in the chamber 19, and this swirlingmotion under all ordinary eircun'istances is suliicient to over come theaction of gravity and to close the valves and maintain them closed underthese conditions, altho the valves with the hinges at the lower sidesthereof will open when the fans cease rotating.

In order to provide for the very compact arrangement of the fanshereinbefore referred to and which arrangement comprises an importantfeature of my invention, the fans are so arranged that they may besupported upon the projecting end of the motor shaft, that is, a bearingis not provided atthe onter end of said shaft, the single motor bearingof the shaft being suihcient. In accomplishing this result the lowerpressure fan 16 which embodies the largest construction is located nextto the shaft bearing and the high pressure fan 17 which is next in sizeis located next to the larger and lower pressure fan. The suction fans18 which are the smallest in construction are located at the end of theshaft 15 and these suction fans, in addition to their being the lightestby reason of their size, are formed of duralium or aluminum or otherlight sufficiently strong metal. It is impractical to construct the fans1(517 of these light metals and especially of duralium, as the costowing to their size would be excessive and these fans of the greaterweight are, therefore located next to the motor.

is a further aid in decreasing the length of the case the backs of thesuction fans are placed facing the backs of the high and low pressurefans, and this enables a decrease to be obtained in the length of theshaft and also of the case.

The arrangement of the narrow suction fans at the outer end of the caseenables the structure to be conveniently assembled, as it is necessaryto use wrenches and other tools within these chambers for the purpose ofassembling the parts. This may be easily done as to the chamber 19 assuch tools may be inserted through the opening 20, and the same is trueof the chamber as such tools may be inserted through the opening in thepipe 24;. Such an operation, however, is impossible as to the chambers2526, but their location at the outer end of the case enables the fansto be secured as by the use of certain tools b fore the plates closingthe chamhers are secured in position, and it should be noted in thisparticular that a partitioning Wull 32 is located between the suctionchambers and the high and lower pressure chambers thus dividing the endof the case 6 containing the motor from the opposite end thereof.

in accordance with the provisions of the patent statutes 1 havedescribed the principles of operation of my invention, together with thedevice which I now consider to represent the best embodiment thereof;but I desire to have it understood that the device shown is onlyillustrative, and that the 111 vention may be carried out by other meansand applied to uses other than those above set out.

I claim-- l. A blower comprising a case substantially round in crosssection, a shaft extending within the case with its outer endunsupported, a bearing for the end of said shaft opposite saidunsupported end, means for driving said shaft, and a series of fanssecured to said shaft within the case, said fans increasing in weightfrom the outer unsupported end of the shaft toward said bearing.

2. A blower comprising a case substantially round in cross section, ashaft extending into said ease with its outer end unsupported, a bearingfor the end of said shaftopposite said unsupported end, and a series offans secured to said shaft within the case and increasing in size fromthe free unsupported end of the shaft toward said hearing.

3. A blower comprising a case substantially round in cross section andhaving a series of chambers including a low pressure 'Ill chamber, ahigh pressure chamber and chambers arranged in the order named, a shaftextending through said chambers and having its outer end unsupported, abearing for the opposite end of the shaft, means for driving said shaft,and a lower pressure fan,

a high pressure fan and other fans located in the said chambers in theorder named.

4. A blower comprising a case substantially round in cross section andhaving a chamber, a second adjacent and communicating chamber of lesswidth than the first chamber, a chamber adjacent to said second chamberand of less width than said second chamber, a shaft projecting throughsaid chambers, fans having relative widths compared with said chambersand located therein, the end of said shaft farthest away from the widestchamber being unsupported, a bearing for the opposite end of said shaft,and means for driving said shaft.

A blower comprising a case substantially round in cross section andhaving a chamber, a second adjacent and communicating chamber of lesswidth than the first chamber, a chamber adjacent to said second chamberand of less width than said second I chamber, and divided therefrom, ashaft extending through said chambers and having its end farthest fromthe widest chamber unsupported, a fan located in each of the first twonamed chambers and of widths com pared with the widths of said chambersand secured to said shaft, a fan located in the last named chamber andwith its back facing the back of the fan in the adjoining chamber andsecured to said shaft, and means for driving said shaft.

6. A blower comprising a case having a wall therein, a plurality ofports opening through said wall on diametrically opposite sides of thecenter thereof, a valve for each of said ports, means for closing all ofsaid valves by movement of a current of fluid in a circular direction,and means within said case for creating a current of fluid flowing in. acircular direction.

7. A blower comprising a case having a wall therein, ports located onopposite sides of'the center of said wall and opening therethrough, avalve for each of said ports, means for closing all of said valves bymovement of a current of fluid in a circular direction, and means withinsaid case for creating a current of fluid flowing in a circulardirection.

8. A blower comprising a case having a wall therein with a plurality ofports opening'through said wall on diametrically opposite sides of thecenter thereof, a valve for each of said ports, said valves beingmounted on hinges, means for closing all of said valves by movement of acurrent of air in a circular direction, and means located within thecase for creating a current of fluid flowing in a circular direction.

9. A blower comprising a case having a wall therein with a plurality ofports arranged on a circular line and on diametrically opposite sides ofthe center thereof, valves mounted on hinges to open and close saidports, the hinge for each valve being located on that side of the portopposed to movement of a current of air along said circular path, andmeans located in'said case for creating movement of air in a circularpath. 7

10. A blower comprising a case having a wall therein with a plurality ofports opening through said wall on diametrically opposite sides of thecenter thereof, a valve for each of said ports, said valves beingmounted on hinges and all of the valves extending from said hinges inthe same direction in a circular path, whereby said valves are allclosed by the movement of a current of air in a circular direction,andmeans located within the case for creating a current of fluid flowingin a circular direction.

IRA H. SPENCER.

